Salve for the Soul by Nikki E Salt

 

I'm sat in a garden chair, wrapped up in my enormous, snug ski jacket, laptop on lap (the clue is in the name!) and a mug of tea on the table beside me, cooling by the second. A moody cloud is threatening a deluge but is currently content with casual spitting. 

My garden is more of a field. A blank canvas for my soul, a tonic to soothe the cyclonic storms that erupt from time to time.

It's been one of those stormy weeks. A mishmash of medics, sickness, panic, fear, uncertainty. 

But now, all is still. 

I sit and listen to the birds, the wind rushing through the dry, cracked leaves of autumn. I watch a hawk soar, swoop, and drop behind the trees; the clouds sweep across the sky; a sparrow search among the grass and weeds. 

All is well.

My mind wanders and I recall the story of Jesus out on the lake with his disciples, their fishing boat lurching dangerously in the ferocious waves. Jesus calms the storm with a few words. How apt that today He continues to calm our storms with his words. If only, I could hear them when the waves are crashing and the eye of the storm is above me. It's too loud, too scary, and I'm too busy with my head down hearing the chaos to listen to His voice. I knew he was near. He was there all the time.

But now, I listen.

I look up to the mountains;

does my strength come from mountains?

No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains

(Psalm 121 vs 1-2, the Message)